Derechos de los Trabajadores: ¿Cuáles son mis

The climax to the Carnegie Commission’s tour of South African libraries was the Library Conference held in Bloemfontein in 1928, a conference which undoubtedly marked a watershed in the development of libraries in South Africa.

Bearing in mind the desire expressed by the Kimberley Public Library Committee and its Librarian in its Minutes and Annual Reports on many occasions for closer co-operation with similar institutions in South Africa and the previously mentioned suggestion made by the Chairman to the Librarian of the South African Public Library to establish a Library Association in South Africa as far back as 1890, it was appropriate that amongst the delegates present at the Bloemfontein Conference, were three from the Kimberley Public Library namely the Chairman of the Library Committee, his Deputy and J Ross, the Librarian (Coetzee 1975: 140). In fact, SA Pellisier in his Presidential address to the South African Library Association in 1965 which focused on the development of the library movement in South Africa also referred to the role played by the Kimberley Public Library in this regard

[die] eerste konferensie van bibliotekarisse en belangstellendes in biblioteke is op 5 April 1904 onder beskerming van die ‘South African Association for the Advancement of Science’ in Johannesburg gehou … Sy Edele Regter Laurence lewer toe reeds in sy openingsrede ‘n pleidooi vir die afskaffing van die subskripsiestelsel en hy stel in vooruitsig ‘n biblioteekvereniging met ‘n eie joernaal (Pellisier 1965: 36).

Subsequent to the Bloemfontein Conference, the Chairman of the Kimberley Public Library Committee, JJ Collins reported that the Library Conference held in Bloemfontein under the auspices of the Carnegie Corporation of New York had been attended by librarians and those interested in the development of the library movement in South Africa and that the object of the conference was

to study the question and endeavour to formulate a national library scheme which would benefit the whole of our widely scattered population (KPL Annual Report, 1928).

The Chairman went on to say that the Conference generally

favoured the organisation of a free library service and the formation of a co-ordinated service which would bring books in the national scheme within the reach of every citizen (KPL Annual Report, 1928).

The Chairman continued his report saying that the financial aspect of the proposed library scheme had been carefully considered and mentioned that at that time ‘

the total annual expenditure on the public library service in South Africa was about £90 000 while the cost of the proposed national scheme when fully developed was estimated at £120 000’ (KPL Annual Report, 1928).

The Chairman said that the Conference had registered a unanimous conviction that

an extension among the people of the practice of reading for study or recreation and the recognition by the Union Government of greater library facilities as an extension of the educational service of the State, was a great necessity (KPL Annual Report, 1929).

In several respects the Commission found the library system prevailing in South Africa at that time to be similar to the forerunners of municipal public libraries in the more fully developed English speaking countries such as the United States of America, Canada and the British Isles but they identified several aspects of the South African library system which, in spite of the 211 libraries which existed in the country in 1928, were peculiar to this country namely –

• The sparsity of the white population;

• the relatively large numbers of natives and non-Europeans;

• the lack, until 1910, of central government for the territories concerned;

• the limited means of transport and communication (Coetzee 1975: 29).

Other matters which it was found compounded the problems experienced by the library movement in South Africa which received attention at the Conference were that very little had been done to provide reading material for the rural population, for juveniles or for non-Europeans. An additional handicap to an acceptable library service was the shortage of qualified librarians. Training facilities for the profession were virtually non-existent in the country so that the majority of qualified librarians were recruited from abroad.

The Conference concluded its deliberations by passing several resolutions of which the most important in regard to this study related to –

1. the formation of a free and co-ordinated library service throughout the country;

2. the recognition by the Union Government of library facilities as an extension of the educational services founded by the State;

3. school services for European children;

4. general library services for non-Europeans;

5. formation of a Library Association;

6. the appointment of a National Library Board to regulate and control the National Library System;

7. the professional training for library service.

Generally, the findings of the Commission were endorsed by the delegates to the 1928 Library Conference which was attended by approximately 78 delegates of whom only 10 were librarians. Other interest groups present included representatives of the government and universities, publishers, agricultural organizations and scientists as

representatives of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science and representatives of non-white groups including the distinguished African author and resident of Kimberley, Mr Solomon T Plaatje (Coetzee 1975: 10). Although in the minority, there were indeed a few fervently motivated individuals among them who were to play a leading role in the future Library Association, not least Ross, the Librarian of the Kimberley Public Library (DFA 22.05.1947).

Fig 6: Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje